LONDON – As British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) celebrates 100 years since its founding, we caught up with BUCS CEO Vince Mayne and UK FISU Ambassador Adam Pratchett, to find out what they’ve learned from the past 100 years and what’s next for the giants of university sport.
Whilst inter-university sport has long been a part of British tradition, perhaps most famously with the Oxford vs Cambridge Boat Race which formally began in 1829, it wasn’t until 1919 that the Inter-Varsity Athletics Board of England and Wales (which 14 organisations later is now BUCS) was founded by 10 Universities from across the United Kingdom.
Since then, BUCS has grown significantly over the years into one of the most well rounded and developed university sport programmes in the world, with over 170 member institutions, 52 Official BUCS Sports and over 1 million university students taking part in sport and physical activity on a regular basis.
Whilst BUCS primarily focuses on inter-university competition with teams competing in leagues on a weekly basis, as a membership organisation, it represents a broad range of sporting activity and has a number of key projects surrounding inclusion and gender equality. In particular their #TakeAStand Campaign and BUCS Girl Can Campaign has been crucial in raising awareness of and tackling the barriers to taking part in sport at university.
Furthermore, universities and colleges across the country have their own outstanding sports programmes, with tens of millions of pounds invested across the sector every year, providing countless opportunities for students to engage in sport and physical activity.
Speaking to FISU, BUCS CEO Vince Mayne said “We are very lucky in the UK to have such a fantastic set up for university sport. We’ve come a long way in 100 years, and our existence as an organisation, which has been promoting the values of university sport alongside our members, has meant that sport is now ingrained into the fabric and culture of universities across the country.”
“As a result almost every university ensures there are no timetabled classes on Wednesday afternoons, so students are free to take part in sport and other extra-curricular activities. However, with increasing academic demands on students and universities wanting to make timetabling classes easier, this sacred space is always under threat.”
On the International Day of University Sport (IDUS), BUCS therefore believes it is especially important to reinforce the values of sport worldwide and continue to remind individuals involved in higher education that sport has a number of benefits beyond the obvious physical effects.
Whilst celebrating IDUS is difficult in the UK, due to the fact that many of the UK’s universities and colleges do not start term until the end of September, this year has been incredibly special for BUCS, with numerous celebrations commemorating 100 years of university sport and promoting its values across the country.
This included a Royal Reception at St James’ Palace in London with BUCS Patron Princess Anne for representatives from the 10 founding members of BUCS; and Centenary Dinners hosted at the University of Sheffield and Nottingham during BUCS’ annual Nationals and Big Wednesday Competitions. The Royal Reception also saw former FISU Executive Committee member Alison Odell, inducted into the BUCS Hall of Fame for her contributions to the development of university sport both in the UK and internationally.
Whilst BUCS has evolved over the years, one of the constants throughout its history has been its focus on student leadership. From the original call for its founding in 1918 by the Presidents of University Unions, to the elected sabbatical officers of today, who form half of BUCS’ voting membership and 4 National Student Officers who sit on BUCS’ Advisory Board, BUCS places a great deal of emphasis on developing the leaders of tomorrow through its programmes.
Vince said: “I think one of the main things we’ve learned as the organisation has expanded over time is the importance of student leadership, supporting the development of future leaders through sport and ultimately listening to their ideas and respecting the wishes of our member institutions.
There is undoubtedly more we can do as an organisation to engage students and elected sabbatical officers, but we are really proud of the work our member institutions are doing and the projects we are supporting too.”
With this in mind, 2018 saw BUCS send National Student Officer and University of Nottingham Sports Officer, Adam Pratchett, to the FISU Volunteer Leaders Academy in Kazan.
Adam, who excelled in Kazan, was ranked third out of 112 delegates at the end of the Academy and was subsequently invited to work for FISU at both the Winter and Summer Universiades in Krasnoyarsk and Napoli respectively.
Back in the UK, Adam has used his FISU Ambassador role to support BUCS’ International Advisory Group and to raise awareness of BUCS’ international offer. Speaking on the FISU Academy, Adam said “FISU is in such a unique position to help develop today’s stars into tomorrow’s leaders, and I hope the Academy continues to evolve to focus more on the professional development and mentorship of the Ambassadors during their time in office.
One of the things I emphasised at the Academy was the need for FISU to recognise the importance of allowing each of their Ambassadors to carry out different activities, based on the level of development of their country’s university sport programme.
For the past year I have focussed on re-establishing the importance of BUCS’ international offer within the organisation, working with our international representatives to develop a new strategy to raise awareness of our international work and engaging with FISU committee members to lay the foundations for future UK FISU Ambassadors to build on. In contrast my colleagues in Trinidad and Tobago, for example, have done some fantastic work, directly engaging with hundreds of university students in their country, hosting a number of exciting events and collaborating with universities to raise awareness of the values of volunteering.
As Ambassadors, we all have different roles to play in our respective countries, but it is fundamentally about working towards the goal of developing university sport both at home and abroad and according to local and regional culture and traditions.“
Reflecting on BUCS journey in recent years Vince explained “For the past few years BUCS has been focussing internally on a number of upgrades to take our sports programmes to the next level, and Adam’s appointment as the UK’s FISU Ambassador came at a critical point when BUCS was starting to refocus its international offer to better suit the membership’s means of engagement in FISU activity and appreciation of the changing opportunities at both global and continental levels of university sport.
With Adam’s International Relations background and significant experience in university sport he has been a fantastic FISU Ambassador and we are excited to be supporting his development as a potential future leader in international university sport.”
Looking towards the future, this September and October will see millions of students return to their universities and colleges across the UK, where they will be met with a vast range of opportunities to become involved with sport and physical activity.
For BUCS, Vince said “Our vision is simple: we want to create the best university sport experience in the world, whether that be through our competitive leagues, student and professional workforce development or inclusive sport opportunities.”
BUCS is clearly focussed on continuing to develop its international offer and continuing to support FISU’s programmes. In line with this, Ellis Clarke, Sports and Activity Officer from Sheffield Hallam University, was recently sent to the FISU Volunteer Leaders Academy in Kazan as the UK’s next delegate and UK FISU Ambassador.
In his final remarks to FISU, Adam said “BUCS and FISU have a bright future ahead together and we are looking forward to further collaboration in the future. On behalf of everyone involved in BUCS Sport, we would like to wish everyone around the world a happy and successful International Day of University Sport.”
FISU would like to congratulate all the staff and students involved with BUCS on their 100 year anniversary and wish them every success for the next century.
For more information about British Universities and Colleges Sport, please visit their website.